Charlie Brown turns 60!
Yes, Charlie Brown is older than I am! 
Yesterday was the 60th anniversary of the “Peanuts” comic strip authored by Charles M. Schulz, who lived in Santa Rosa, California. Although Schulz died in February 2000, the joy that he brought to so many people lives on. Four months after his death, ground was broken for the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center.
The “Peanuts” comic strip is well-documented in Wikipedia and elsewhere, and an amazing 17,897 strips were published in all!
According to the CNET article:
“… Schulz himself was not all that excited by the idea of the museum, but was won over when he saw some of Japanese artist Yoshiteru Otani‘s murals–especially ‘Morphing Snoopy,’ a bas relief sculpture that now dominates one wall near the entrance and shows all 43 different Snoopy styles that Schulz drew over the years.”
The museum has about 7,000 original strips in its collection. For almost the entire history of the comic strip, there were no characters beside children and animals. However, during four weeks in 1954, Schulz included the legs and torsos of adults in the strip. Now, they seem very much out of place.
Other surprises…? Charlie Brown was actually self-confident in the early years!
The museum also highlights how the “Peanuts” strip was ahead of its time in discussing the environment. In the environment of the museum, of course there is a kite-eating tree!
CNET also has a photo gallery of the museum and its grounds, including one of the kite eating tree and one of a strip in which Charlie Brown took a bite out of the tree.
You feel happier just looking at the photographs!
-Bill at
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